Game apparatus.



R. H.- ZSCHAU.

GAME APPARATUS.

' APPLICATION FILED JUNE 10, 1909.

954,070. Patented Apr. 5, 1910.

ROBERT H. ZSCHAU, 0F CINCINNATI, OHIO.

GAME APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 10, 1909.

Patented Apr. 5, 1910. Serial No. 501,279.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT H. ZSGHAU, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Cincinnati, county of Hamilton, and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Game Apparatus, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part. of this specification.

My invention relates to that class of games of which backgammon is an example, and in which dice are used as the determinant of the relative advantage of the several players; and has reference specifically to a device in which the players are wholly deprived of control over the result of the cast by reason of the construction of said device.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of my invention. Fig. 2 is a crosssection on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on the line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4: is a side elevation of my invention showing the operating mechanism where a single section is employed. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of my invention showing the operating mechanism where four sections are constructed side by side and used as a unit.

The numeral 1 indicates a box of any suit able material and construction, the only essentials being that said box should be of sufficiently ample dimensions to permit the inclosed dice to turn freely, and that it should be equipped with a transparent end or bottom through which said dice may be read after the cast has been made. In my preferred construction I employ a glass bottom 2, which slides in the inturned flanges 3, 3 of the box. Said box is divided into any desired number of preferably equal compartments or units by the longitudinal partitions 4, each compartment being of suitable dimensions to receive a single die and to permit the same to turn freely therein. Rotatably mounted in opposite sides of said box at a suitable distance from the transparent bottom and contiguous to a third side, is the transverse pin 5, operated by the crank arm 6. Fixedly secured to said pin so that it will turn therewith is the transverse shutter 7 parts of the longitudinal partitions 1 being cut away as shown in Fig. 3 to give the said shutter and pin passage and turning space. The said shutter is slotted, as shown in Fig. 2, to permit it to operate freely between the partitions 4, and to form, when closed as shown in Fig. 3, in connection with said partitions and the lower portion of the box, reduced compartments in which the several dice are each held with one face unchangeably presented to the transparent bottom 2 so long as said shutter is closed, or in a substantially parallel plane with said bottom.

Attached to the end of the crank arm 6 is the rod 8, connecting said crank arm with one arm of the lever 9. Said lever is mounted near the middle on the pivot 10, and is connected at its'other end to the rod and pressure button 11, mounted in any suitable manner on the outside of the box 1. Attached to the end of the lever 9 beyond the rod 8, is the spring 12, the other end of said spring being attached to the box by means of the pin 13- The said spring 12 by normally holding down the crank arm 6 as shown in Fig. 4:, closes the shutter 7 as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. To prevent the shutter from being forced beyond the substantially parallel plane best shown in Fig. 3, a stop 14, shown in Fig. 2, is employed. This operating mechanism may be variously modified within the spirit and scope of my invention.

The foregoing description has been confined to a single section of my invention, but it is apparent that any number of such sections may be combined or integrally formed at will in a variety of ways, and that all of such multiplications of the principle employed are within the scope and intendment of my invention and disclosure.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a combination of four sections of four compartments or units each, and being thus adapted to the use of sixteen dice. To adapt the operating mechanism to this combination, I employ the slotted cross-bar 15, attached to the lower end of the rod 8. The ends of the several crank arms 6 work in the slot of said cross bar, and the four shutters are thereby opened and closed simultaneously.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The player in taking hold of the top of the box to shake it preparatory to the cast, forces down the button 11, raises the shutter 7 through the agency of the lever and crank arm, and thus releases the dice. When the button is released on inverting the box, the shutter is again closed by means of the spring and the dice are held with one face of each visible through the transparent bottom.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a device of the character specified, the combination With a box having a transparent face, of a dice holding shutter in said box closing in a plane substantially parallel with said transparent face.

2. In a device of the character specified, the combination With a box having a transpan ent face and dice in said box, of a dice holding shutter for holding said dice so as to display one face of each through. said transparent face.

3. In a device of the character specified, the combination With a box having a transparent face, said box being divided into compartments by longitudinal partitions, of a dice holding shutter closing in each of said compartn'ients in a plane substantially parallel with said transparent face.

a. In a device of the character specified, the combination With a box having a transparent face, of a dice holding shutter in said box closing in a plane substantially parallel With said transparent face, and means for opening and closing said shutter.

5. In a device of the character specified,

the combination With a box having a trans parent face, of a dice holding shutter in said box closing in a plane substantially parallel With said transparent face, and means for holding said shutter normally closed.

6. In a device of the character specified, the combination With a box having a transparent face of a dice holding shutter in said box closing in a plane substantially parallel with said transparent face, and means for holding said shutter normally closed, and means for opening said shutter from the outside of said box.

7. In a device of the character specified, the combination with a box having a transparent bottom, said box being divided into compartments by longitudinal partitions, of a dice holding shutter closing in each of said compartments in a plane substantially parallel with said transparent bottom, a spring for holding said shutter normally closed, a crank arm for operating said shutter, a lever connected with said crank arm, and a button on the outside of said box connected with said lever for operating said shutter against the stress of said spring.

ROBERT H. ZSCHAU.

Witnesses ALFRED M. ALLEN, Bnssna A. BEALL. 

